The First Kentucky Bourbon

The origins of "Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey" date back to days before state boundaries were drawn, when early governances encouraged corn cultivation. Pioneers discovered that corn was not only easy to grow, but it also made a very distinctive and somewhat lighter style of whiskey.

Trying to name the first person to make whiskey is like arguing with your grandmother over the exact recipe of her famous chocolate pie. No one really knows the answer. There are reports that General James Wilkinson built a distillery at Harrodsburg in 1774, Kentucky's earliest permanent settlement, but conflicting articles don't put Wilkinson in the state until a decade later. Others say it was Daniel Boone's second, third, eighth, or something cousin Wattie, and then some say bourbon got its start in Nelson County. There are other names out there, too, like Joseph and Samuel Davis, James Garrard, and William Calk. Anyone from Kentucky will tell you that more than half of its multigenerational families can trace their lineage back far enough to a long-lost, great-great-great-somebody who most certainly probably also invented the state's famed libation. Maybe they all did make bourbon whiskey. Maybe their product just wasn't good enough to become a long-lasting brand.

One name that appears over and over in bourbon's early history is that of Virginia preacher Elijah Craig.

Elijah Craig is a man of great notoriety for his role in the settlement of the area of Virginia that would become Kentucky, so it is only natural that he is credited by some to be the inventor of bourbon. He was a Baptist preacher, born in 1738 in Orange County, Virginia, which is notably home to President James Madison's Montpelier. At the time, Baptists were considered a fairly controversial denomination, and while they were protected by Virginia's freedom of religion laws, Baptists faced enough challenges that Craig became very involved in politics and dedicated to protecting religious freedom federally.

Craig's brother, Lewis, led an exodus of more than six hundred people west in 1781 in search of more religious freedom. Elijah followed his brother a year later and purchased one thousand acres in what was then Fayette County, Virginia, where he established a town called Lebanon in 1784. But this is not the Lebanon located in Marion County that many Kentuckians know today. This Lebanon was renamed to its current moniker, Georgetown, in 1790 in honor of President George Washington.

There, Elijah Craig founded several churches and the first classical school in Kentucky in 1787. And he didn't stop there. He went on to become an entrepreneur and successful businessman, building the first paper mill and fulling mill — for the manufacturing of cloth — in the state. And in 1789, he started a distillery in what is now part of present-day Woodford and Scott counties.

You'll find some old news stories that say that it was in this distillery that he invented bourbon — a version of whiskey that requires a mashbill of at least 51 percent corn, aged in new charred oak barrels, entered into the barrel for aging at no more than 125 proof, and bottled at 80 proof or more. We've heard more than one account along the Bourbon Trail that Craig was the first to age his whiskey in charred oak barrels, which gives bourbon its distinctive honey-brown coloring. But ask around, and you'll find that not everyone is convinced.

Elijah Craig died in Georgetown in 1808 and is buried at Stamping Ground Baptist Church, which was originally founded as McConnell's Church by Craig.

Regardless of the official pioneering genius behind the corn whiskey, Kentuckians still toast Mr. Craig — and his namesake bourbon produced by Heaven Hill Distillery in Bardstown — for his contributions to the state and to the bourbon industry.

* A ROAD TRIP TO GEORGETOWN *

Elijah Craig founded Georgetown. Located ten miles north of Lexington off I-75, Georgetown is thought by many to be where Kentucky bourbon whiskey was first produced. Royal Spring, still visible today at Royal Spring Park on West Main Street, provided the water for Elijah Craig to make his bourbon. Today, Royal Spring is the state's largest spring-based public water system, serving more than seven thousand customers.

Georgetown College is also located downtown. Elijah Craig founded the college in 1787. It is the oldest Baptist college west of the Allegheny Mountains.

* IF YOU GO Georgetown

Make sure to check out other area attractions while you're near downtown. Visit the authentic 1874 log cabin built by former slave Milton Leach, also located at Royal Spring Park downtown. Then take a walking tour of downtown's historic architecture. Georgetown has more than two hundred buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Head to historic Ward Hall, on US 460 just a mile outside of downtown. Completed in 1853, Ward Hall is one of the largest Greek Revival structures in Kentucky. Other points of interest include the Cardome Renaissance Centre, Toyota Motor Manufacturing (you can take a tour and see cars built!), and Evans Orchard and Cider Mill, a great agritourism destination with you-pick apples, fresh cider, and pumpkins in the fall.

* A ROAD TRIP TO HEAVEN HILL DISTILLERY ?

Heaven Hill Distillery was founded in Louisville in 1935 by a group of investors that included the Shapira family and prominent distiller Joseph L. Beam, first cousin to the well-known Jim Beam. Joe Beam was the brand's first Master Distiller, along with his youngest son, Harry. Descendants of the Shapira family still own and run the company today, and all of the brand's Master Distillers have been members of the Beam family.

It was started as Old Heavenhill Springs Distillery and has predominately focused on its two flagship labels, Evan Williams and Elijah Craig. But today, Heaven Hill produces a variety of bourbons, including Bernheim Original, Pikesville Straight Rye, Rittenhouse Rye, Henry McKenna Single Barrel, Parker's Heritage Collection, and Larceny Kentucky Straight Bourbon, as well as various other malts and vodkas.

Today, Heaven Hill's bottling facility, many of its warehouses, and the Bourbon Heritage Center are located in Bardstown.

* IF YOU GO Heaven Hill Distillery

While some of the operations remain in Louisville, you'll get the best road trip experience if you visit Heaven Hill's Bourbon Heritage Center and tasting room in Bardstown. Check out heavenhilldistillery.com for prices and hours of operation, which vary based on the time of year.

* A ROAD TRIP TO THE BIRTHPLACE OF BOURBON ?

In central Kentucky, just northeast of Lexington, roadtrippers may stumble on Bourbon County. While travelers often assume that Bourbon County must be the home of bourbon (what's in a name, and all that), it isn't the case at all. In fact, Bourbon County, Kentucky, which was established as part of Virginia in 1785 and later transferred to the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1792, was actually named in honor of the French royal House of Bourbon. The House of Bourbon was a branch of the Capetian dynasty, who first ruled France and Navarre in the sixteenth century. While bourbon was made in and shipped from Bourbon County — quite a lot of it actually, there were many distilleries in this area that encompassed about twenty-seven present-day counties — bourbon actually got its name from the county and not the other way around. Bourbon County was one of the first counties established in Kentucky (it was founded before Kentucky was even a state), and as barrels of corn whiskey were loaded on steamboats for shipping, the barrels were stamped with "BOURBON," indicating the place from which they were being sent. Merchants began referring to the barrels as "barrels of Bourbon," leading to the adoption of the name. It gives you a whole different perspective on the importance of luggage tags, doesn't it?

But to find the true birthplace of bourbon, you need to travel a bit west of Paris to the valleys along the Kentucky River where the current meanders northwest and cuts through present-day Woodford, Scott, and Franklin counties. Interstate 64 crosses the Kentucky River just south of Frankfort. Below the bridge, the river curves south around a bend where it meets the bank of Glenn's Creek just out of sight from the cars zipping down the highway.

If you travel KY 1659 — locally known as Glenn's Creek Road, which turns into McCracken Pike — as it stretches between Frankfort and Versailles, you will pass through some of the original foundations of bourbon.

Along the wide banks of the Kentucky River sit some of the state's original bourbon barrel houses. As you pass, take a closer look, and you'll find some of the brick walls turning black. It isn't soot; it's Baudoinia compniacensis, a species of black mold sometimes called "whiskey fungus" that feeds on the ethanol vapor released by liquor as it ages. As you visit distilleries across the Bluegrass State, you'll find this black discoloration at all of them. Be cautiously curious. The mold isn't bad to touch or breathe in moderation. In fact, many houses in neighborhoods around Louisville's large distilling district, Shively, battle the whiskey fungus, too. But mold is still mold, so you don't want to ingest it or breathe it in directly.

Just west of the iconic barrel houses on Glenn's Creek Road and south of Frankfort near the Millville town limits sits the Old Taylor Distillery. This eighty-two-acre plot of land is rich in the history of bourbon and the culture of its earliest crafters and drinkers.

Edmond Haynes Taylor is a true bourbon baron. After his father died, he spent time living with his uncle Zachary Taylor (as in President Zachary Taylor) before moving in with his other uncle, E. H. Taylor, and adding the suffix junior to his name out of respect. He worked in bourbon for a large part of his life, starting out at Gaines, Berry, & Co., home to Old Crow Bourbon, and then going on to buy and expand the Old Fashioned Copper Distillery in Frankfort, which is known today as Buffalo Trace. After parting ways with his business partners, Colonel E. H. Taylor Jr. opened Old Taylor Distillery in 1887.

In addition to his role as a leader in the whiskey industry, Colonel Taylor served as the mayor of Frankfort for sixteen years and then as a state representative and senator. His political influence helped him revitalize the bourbon industry, which was suffering from a lack of consumer confidence due to product quality. Taylor worked to pass laws to ensure a higher standard, including the Bottled-in-Bond Act of 1897, which provided a federal tax subsidy for distilleries who followed certain standards. Colonel Taylor knew good bourbon, and he wanted to ensure that each consumer got a good bottle of bourbon every time. Old Taylor Distillery was the first to produce one million US government–certified cases of straight bourbon whiskey.

His distillery was a showcase of bourbon making in Kentucky. The picturesque property featured a peristyle springhouse, stone bridges, gazebos, sunken gardens, and castle-like buildings complete with turrets, all built from Kentucky limestone. After the distillery closed in 1972, Mother Nature tried her hardest to reclaim these beautifully crafted structures. But in 2016, Kentucky's first female Master Distiller, Marianne Barnes, managed to revitalize the property, tradition, and the bourbon that ran through its veins, establishing Castle and Key Distillery — the castle part in honor of the limestone buildings' castle-like appearance, and the key for the key-shaped pool filled with fresh limestone water hiding under the springhouse.

* IF YOU GO Castle and Key Distillery

As of this book's publication, Castle and Key's bourbons and ryes are still aging, but the distillery will also be selling Gin and Vodka. You can book a behind-the-scenes tour of their restoration and distilling efforts through their website: castleandkey.com and follow their progress on social media.

Other Early Bourbon Pioneers

It took more than just one man (or woman) to bring whiskey making to where it is today. Here are some other pioneering families who helped invent Kentucky bourbon:

Elijah Pepper (James E. Pepper and Old Crow bourbons) settled in Old Pepper Springs, Kentucky, in 1776.

Robert Samuels (Maker's Mark bourbon) settled in Kentucky in 1780.

Jacob Beam (Jim Beam bourbon) arrived in Kentucky in 1785. Jim Beam sold his first barrel of whiskey in 1795.

The Brown family (Old Forester bourbon) came to Kentucky in 1792.

Daniel Weller (W. L. Weller bourbon) arrived in Kentucky in 1794.

The State's First Bourbon Distillery

* A ROAD TRIP TO THE EVAN WILLIAMS BOURBON EXPERIENCE *

It is difficult to believe that anyone with the knowledge and equipment required to make whiskey would only produce enough for himself. So, it is very possible that the early settlers of the state were selling and bartering with whiskey long before the first official distillery opened its doors for production. But Evan Williams actually did build a real distillery in Louisville in 1783, which is believed by most — while doubted by some historians — to be the first commercial distillery on record.

It is probable that no one will ever really know the identity of Kentucky's first distiller. In the state's early days, there was no tax on distilled spirits, which means there are no official government records on any distillers. Illiteracy could also contribute to the lack of records.

But even if Mr. Williams wasn't the first, he was among the earliest operators of many commercial distilleries that would pop up across Kentucky.

Williams was an entrepreneur and politician who emigrated from Wales in the 1780s. He was a farmer, building contractor, harbormaster, businessman, inventor, and civic leader who built a distillery on the banks of the Ohio River. Today, the distillery no longer stands, but Evan Williams lives on in the world of bourbon.

Evan Williams brand Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey is distilled at Heaven Hill Distillery in Louisville and bottled in Bardstown. The brand now includes several varieties, including a nine-year-old single barrel, flavored bourbons, and a white label version. It is consistently a leading seller of straight bourbon.

* IF YOU GO The Evan Williams Bourbon Experience

While Evan Williams is produced in Louisville and stored and bottled in Bardstown by Heaven Hill, the Evan Williams Bourbon Experience, located at 528 Main Street, a few blocks from Louisville's historic Whiskey Row, is the place to visit to learn about and taste the brand. Visit evanwilliams.com.

* A ROAD TRIP TO BUFFALO TRACE DISTILLERY *

We warned you before we started — the only thing we can agree on is that we don't agree where bourbon got its start. Case in point: forget all that stuff we just told you about Evan Williams; Buffalo Trace Distillery says it is the oldest continuously operating distillery in the United States (though Burks's distillery, now used for production of Maker's Mark, makes the same claim and is officially registered as such in the Guinness Book of World Records). It remained open during Prohibition and was allowed to bottle alcohol for medicinal purposes and even distill some during the final years of the alcohol ban.

Buffalo Trace Distillery, previously known as the George T. Stagg Distillery and the O.F.C. Distillery, is nestled on the banks of the Kentucky River in Frankfort. The distillery claims the sprawling property is located on what was once one of many ancient buffalo crossings — hence the namesake bourbon brand, Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, which was introduced in August 1999 — that helped the first pioneers carve a path through Kentucky. The distillery is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2013.